The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for questioning on November 2 in connection with the money laundering case about the now-scrapped excise policy.

Kejriwal (55) has been issued the summons under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and according to the sources, the agency will record his statement once he deposes before the investigating officer of the case in Delhi, PTI reported.

This is the first time that Kejriwal has been summoned by the ED. He was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case in April.

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This is the same case that has resulted in the arrest of his former deputy Manish Sisodia in February this year and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on October 4.

Reacting to the summons, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said it is clear that the BJP-led Centre’s only goal is to finish the AAP.

“They are leaving no stone unturned to frame Kejriwal in a fake case and send him to jail,” Bharadwaj said.

The ED has mentioned Kejriwal’s name multiple times in its chargesheets filed in the case and said the accused were in touch with him regarding the preparation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.

The ED has claimed in one of the chargesheets that it has recorded the statement of Butchibabu, an accountant allegedly linked to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha, in which he said “there was political understanding between K Kavitha and the chief minister (Kejriwal) and (former) deputy chief minister (Manish Sisodia). In that process, K Kavitha also met Vijay Nair (AAP communications in-charge arrested in the case) on March 19-20, 2021”, PTI reported.

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In an another instance involving arrested accused Dinesh Arora, the ED said he told the agency that he had met Kejriwal once at his residence. Similarly, the ED chargesheet said YSRCP MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy also held meetings with Kejriwal, wherein the AAP leader welcomed his entry into the Delhi liquor business.

Liquor policy scam

It is alleged that the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP.

The policy was subsequently scrapped and the Delhi lieutenant governor recommended a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in its implementation, following which the ED registered a case under the PMLA.

(With inputs from PTI)